The School of Greatness - 716 Build a Purpose Driven Business, Education, and Life with WeWork Co-Founder Rebekah Neumann

Episode Date: November 7, 2018

GET IN TOUCH WITH YOUR SUPERPOWERS. All of us have superpowers. They are the things that come easily to us. You have to find your superpower and then use it to change the world. Why is it so important? Because once you are coming from a place of passion, the rest will follow. People who lead with a desire for money or fame won’t have the same impact. It’s all about your intention. On today’s episode of The School of Greatness, I talk with an amazing entrepreneur and mother who has honed in on her superpowers and helps others find theirs: Rebekah Neumann. Rebekah Neumann is a founding partner and Chief Brand Officer at WeWork, where she has directed the company’s mission, values, and culture from its inception. As an artist, entrepreneur, and yogi, Neumann has also worked as an equity trader for Solomon Smith Barnet, gained certification as a Jivamukti yoga teacher and acted in and produced a number of film projects. Neumann majored in Business and studied Buddhism at Cornell University. Mother to five children, she is committed to creating a conscious educational community that fosters growth in children’s minds, bodies, and souls, unleashing endless happiness, global citizenship, and every child’s superpowers. Rebekah has now created WeGrow as a new approach to childhood education. She’s hoping to consciously and authentically help the planet through her work using her superpower of intuition. So get ready to get in touch with your superpowers on Episode 716. Some Questions I Ask: Do you ever hate anything? (13:47) Who came up with the name “WeWork?” (14:54) What inspired you to start a different type of school? (24:24) What are you the proudest of? (33:07) How do you emotionally handle your business taking off? (40:38) Why is WeWork taking off? (42:26) In This Episode You Will Learn: Rebekah’s superpower (11:43) Why anger isn’t a helpful emotion (19:46) The biggest thing Rebekah is working on (21:20) Rebekah’s innovative approach to early education (26:01) How Rebekah used career setbacks to find her true passion (31:50) Why it’s important to be constantly changing (44:06) Follow Guest: WeWork Website: https://www.wework.com/ WeGrow Website: https://www.wegrow.com/ Don't forget to follow me on Instagram: @lewishowes or instagram.com/lewishowes

This is episode number 716 with WeWork founding partner, Rebecca Newman. Welcome to the School of Greatness. My name is Lewis Howes, a former pro athlete turned lifestyle entrepreneur. And each week we bring you an inspiring person or message to help you discover how to unlock your inner greatness. Thanks for spending some time with me today. Now let the class begin. Benjamin Franklin said, without continual growth and progress, such as words, improvement,

achievement, and success have no meaning. And John F. Kennedy said, conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth. And today we have a powerful episode with Rebecca Newman, who is known for not conforming to society and for innovating her ideas for a better humanity. She is the founder and CEO of WeGrow and founding partner and chief brand officer of WeWork. As a chief brand officer, she directed the company's mission, values, and culture from inception. And as an artist, filmmaker, entrepreneur, and yogi, she's also gained a certification as a yoga teacher and acted in and produced a number of film projects. as a yoga teacher and acted in and produced a number of film projects. She majored in business and studied Buddhism at Cornell University. She's an avid student of life, traveled the world

apprenticing and studying under many of the greats such as His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Mother Nature herself. She is a mother to five young children and is committed to creating a conscious educational community that fosters growth in children's minds, bodies, and souls, unleashing endless happiness, global citizenship, and every child's superpowers. And boy, are you in for a treat right now. We're covering many different topics like what the mission is at WeWork and WeGrow and the future of work and education in our world. Also, why life is about something much bigger than anything material or superficial and lessons on that. How betrayal and pain ultimately led to a journey of self-discovery to re-find her center and how you can do that as well. How she faces every challenge in her life and business, why she runs a massive business but doesn't put her only focus on making money, and how we work and we grow focused on redefining

success to include fulfillment, happiness, and generosity, and how you can incorporate that in your life and business as well. We have a powerful interview today. I'm so excited about this. I can't wait for you to hear this. And make sure to take a screenshot and tag me on Instagram right now, at Lewis Howes.

Let your friends know about this episode. Share it with them. And while you're listening, let me know what resonates with you the most and what you get out of this the most. All right, my friends, I'm excited about this one. Get ready for the one, the only Rebecca Newman. All right, welcome everyone to the School of Greatest Podcast. We've got Rebecca Newman in the house. Good to see you. Thank you so much for being here. I appreciate it.

I'm in your house, actually. This is the WeWork headquarters. And thank you again for having me. This is exciting. Thanks for having me. Yeah, this is fun. Now, you are, just so I got it clear, you are a founding partner and chief brand officer of WeWork, but also founder and CEO of WeGrow, which is a whole new organization within WeWork. Is that right?

Exactly. And what is the mission of WeGrow, just so I understand clearly? The mission of WeGrow, and quite honestly, the collective we that we're all living under, is to elevate the world's consciousness. That WeGrow specifically through unleashing every human superpowers and expanding happiness. through unleashing every human superpowers and expanding happiness. Okay. And We Grow is starting as a school.

Yes. But it's going to be evolving into much more, I'm assuming, right? It's kind of a practice and a new approach to life. We have started with children, but we're, as soon as next week, starting to pilot some of the curriculum on our We Grown Ups. Really? Is that what you call us? Just for the moment. For fun.

Yeah, why not? Now, why did you want to get into this? Because you guys started WeWork eight years ago, roughly. Uh-huh. 2010, 2011 was the ideas. It came to life. Now you have, I believe, close to 8,000 employees and over 210,000 global members,

which is fascinating and crazy. Yes. And how did the idea actually start with WeWork? The idea for WeWork started because, gosh, it came from a lot of things coming together. First of all, my husband and Miguel, the co-founders, both grew up on kind of communes. My husband on a kibbutz in Israel, Miguel on a commune in Oregon. So they very much from their childhood understood the power of community. They both also were struggling entrepreneurs in Dumbo, Brooklyn when I met Adam.

And they thought that if they could create a platform that would help entrepreneurs and creators really do what they love and not worry so much about the logistics, that that would be a great gift to give the world. So they were struggling entrepreneurs themselves. Oh, yeah. When I met my husband, he couldn't buy me dinner or even afford a taxi. Really? Really.

What year was this when you guys met? We met 11 years ago. Okay. And we got married a few months after that. Really? Wow. Yeah, it was quick. You guys acted fast.

We did. For that time, from about 23 to 29, when I met him, I actually didn't date anyone. For five, six years, you didn't date anyone? No dating. You go on one date? I didn't go on one date. What was that reasoning? I was studying life and wanted to have a deeper understanding of who I was and what my purpose was and kind of why I was on this planet before I opened up to welcoming in a partner. I know it's a little out there, but that's what happened. I like that.

So what made you get to that place of like, okay, did you have a bad experience with a partner when you were 21? Right. Or did you say, okay, this really isn't for me. Let me just be single for a while. Yeah, I think it was a combination of a few things. The first thing is when I was 11, my brother passed away. And I was very close to him. He was 23. At a very young age, I started to understand that life is about something much bigger than anything material or superficial. I grew up in a comfortable home and all of that. But when someone you love dies, it puts everything in perspective and you realize that there's a bigger purpose to life. And when I was in college, my parents split up, and right after college, I went through a terrible breakup, and my boyfriend ended up running off with my best friend. No way.

Yeah, that was intense, and there was a lot of betrayal and pain. But ultimately, thank God, that led me on a journey of self-discovery because I had to kind of refine myself and my center and my raison d'etre. There you go. Yeah. Is there anything that you still hold on to? Any pain? No. You feel like you've forgiven?

I do. And let go of everything? I love everyone. I'm so happy and grateful. And I have my husband and my babies. And thank God is all I can say. It's all perfectly constructed. I think life is perfectly constructed for us to, if we kind of take the cues, become our

best and most fulfilled self. That doesn't mean it's always easy. There are really challenging times, but if we take every challenge as an opportunity for growth, then I think we're constantly going to become more happy and fulfilled. Now, did I understand that in your 20s, you studied Buddhism and business. You're an artist, a yoga instructor, actor, producer, director. And stock trader. And stock trader. For many years, a stock trader, right? No, the stock trading was a quick little thing I did. I did not know what I wanted to do. I went to Cornell. When I graduated from Cornell, the kind of job to get was to go into a sales and

trading analyst program at one of the banks. So I jumped into that. It was not my calling. And very soon after that, I went to India to Dharamsala where the Tibetan community in exile is living. And I studied with His Holiness the Dalai Lama and his monks. I also studied Tibetan Buddhism at Cornell. I love to study all different spiritual paths. To me, ultimately, what's so beautiful is that they all say the same exact thing. Which is what? Which is that if we can all come together and be in a true state of unity and we, then the world will be in a beautiful place.

And not only that, but that is the true reality. We just can't see it. I can't see it or feel it with our five senses, but on an energy level, we are all one entity. So the joke's on us because we think we're different, but we're not. Yeah. We look different. Our story's different. Our history's different. But spiritually, we're different, but we're not. We look different. Our story's different. Our history's different.

But spiritually, we're all aligned. How are we very similar, do you think? You and I? Yeah, you and I, but also just any human that you meet. Well, I can jump into you and I if you want. Let's do it. So one of my superpowers is intuition, so I feel things. I think we're similar because I think what drives you

is goodness and kindness and compassion. And I feel that you I think we're similar because I think what drives you is goodness and kindness and compassion. And I feel that you are authentically trying to make the world a better place and that you're in your life's work and that your work is a genuine act of sharing. And I'm driven by the same things. And I started We Grow Our School as an act of sharing. And We Work was started as an act of sharing. Our intention was never to find a way to make the most money. When I met my husband, I had just come off a month in the woods up at Omega, eating strictly vegan, meditating a few hours a day, and getting certified as a Jiva Mukti yogi. So my intention when I met him was just how do we expand this good vibration to

the planet? And that's sort of what's motivated everything from the beginning. It's not some brand thing we are layering on top to sound conscious. It's authentically our DNA. So you weren't trying to make money. Was he? Because he was struggling. When I initially met him, he was trying and failing. Because if you only focus on trying to make money, first of all, it might not happen. And second of all, even if it does, you might not be happy. Yeah. So we have really focused on redefining success to include fulfillment, happiness, and generosity. Absolutely.

I think it's really, you know, I've interviewed a lot of people, and I think the ones that have figured it out are the ones that make it about impact and fulfillment. And then typically the money will follow if you follow the impact and fulfillment or if you pursue that first. You pursue the thing that you truly love. Exactly. So I think that's the thing that's going to help us overcome challenges. If we don't love something or if we're not at least curious about loving it or excited about it, why would we want to stick through the adversity and the challenges? Because it's going to come either way. Right. Well, and ultimately, as we all know, love is what's going to get us through everything. And when you're creating, you can't be in a state of destroying. So I think if we can all come

together as creators and be creating from a place of passion, then hopefully we can turn the dial down on all things destructive. Do you ever hate anything? No. Has there been a time in your life where you just hated something? I feel scared of things and sad about things. Have I ever any cruelty? I feel really sad about cruelty to animals. I could cry, but I feel terrible about kids suffering. Yeah. I feel bad about what we're doing to the planet. Yeah. But I don't hate anyone because I think most people that are not acting correctly

just don't know better. Yeah. How do we educate people more? That's what we're trying to do with our school. We got to start with kids, but then we got to bring it to grownups. If we can teach people

that by being conscious and sharing, they're going to be more fulfilled and successful, that that's kind of the winning formula. Find your superpower, find your super passion and use it to share and make the world better. If people understand that that will also equal all of the material things they want, then hopefully we'll get people more on that wagon. And also if people can come to realize that we're all one, then they'll treat others the way that they want to be treated. Who came up with the word WeWork? Ah, that's a good one.

So my friend Andrew Finkelstein, who I went to college with, was a friend of my husband's. They had met on the roof of their apartment building. He introduced my husband and I, and he also came up with the name WeWork. We had a bunch of bad names. The first iteration of this company was called Green Desk. So there was Green Desk before WeWork, and we were looking for a name for the company and failing miserably. And then Andrew, who is an agent at WME, he's also a complete creative and a writer. I think just before he fell asleep one night, it came to him. WeWork, yeah.

Yeah. Did you guys imagine that this would happen? Was this like the dream? Like, let's have this 8,000 employees and 200-something thousand members around the world and this multi-billion dollar company as these struggling artists, essentially. I don't think that we dream in numbers. Huh. It's more of an energy and a movement that we can feel. But from the first moment I met my husband, even though he was broke and all of that, which completely didn't matter to me,

I could see that together we were going to create something that was going to be large-scale for the planet. That's why I married him. Wow. Yeah. Now, had he created anything large-scale for the planet. That's why I married him. Wow. Yeah. Now, had he created anything large-scale or successful? Well, he thought he had, but no. He was making baby clothes when we met. Baby clothes?

He actually, his first endeavor was called Crawlers. He made babies pants with knee pads so that when crawling, babies would crawl, their knees wouldn't hurt. Did he have kids before? He did not have kids. No one he worked with had kids. The baby clothes did not actually fit kids. The buttons on them would stab.

I mean, they were very sharp. It was really a hot mess. But he learned a lot in the process. Why did he do baby clothes? I'm not quite sure. I think he thought, or I don't know, his sister and he came up with this concept that baby's knees must hurt. Maybe because they were snowboarders and snowboarding pants. I honestly don't know.

Wow. But it failed is what you're saying. It succeeded in that he grew through it. Oh, sure. He learned. He learned, but I don't know that it ever was bringing in more revenue than it was spending. That's crazy. But I don't know that it ever was bringing in more revenue than it was spending.

That's crazy. So what did you see in him that said like, okay, here's the man that I'm going to partner my life with and help create life together with and help thousands of entrepreneurs thrive in the world and create consciousness through education? How did you see that through baby's knees hurting? It's a great question. First of all, I didn't see the we in it. I didn't know how it was going to manifest, and I didn't see the baby so much either. I mean, maybe I saw our future babies, but not the baby's knees.

I just knew that he was going to be the man that was going to hopefully help save the world. What was that feeling? What was that certainty that you saw? The second I met him, I felt that I had already known him before for sure and that I could kind of see into the future. It felt almost like time stopped. I can't really explain it, but I knew that there also was no ceiling on his potential or on our potential together. Everyone I ever met before, like the day after I met him, my mother said, are you going to marry this guy? And I said, I don't know if I'm going to marry him, but I can't tell you that I'm not.

And everyone else I met, I could always feel within the first few minutes or an hour like where that would hit like a ceiling. So there's no ceiling on Adam, that's for sure. What's the three most powerful superpowers, qualities that he has? That's a great one. First of all, he is undyingly loyal. Sometimes almost to a fault, to be honest, but I admire that he is loyal to the end. I think a lot of Israelis have that, actually. There's this deep commitment to whomever your people are, you're with them. He also, more than anyone I have met in my entire life, has the ability to change and grow. So he and I constantly are working on ourselves. There's always something in ourself that we're trying to get better at, whether it's I'm trying to

cultivate more patience, or he's trying to, when we first met, he was trying not to be in his ego as much. But we're constantly working on these things. He moves through them kind of much more like Neo and the Matrix at Mach speed. And then he goes to the next thing. So I find that really admirable, his ability to grow and change. Third superpower is he can manifest anything. He can literally make things appear out of thin air. Never seen anything like it. Wow. Yeah. I like him as you can tell. That's cool. Yeah. What's the thing you think you get to evolve in the most besides the patients, which I just heard, which is probably hard as a mom of five. Well, I'm working on patients. I'm also working on not ever getting

angry. I don't really think there's a place for anger, but I grew up, my father would get angry at sometimes, and I feel like genetically, or I don't know, it's nature or nurture, we inherit these kind of default places, so I'm working on that. How often do you get angry? Not that often, but sometimes when I get impatient, I like snap, and then I don't speak in the perfect way,

and that doesn't work for me or the people that I'm communicating to. And then I obviously feel bad after. So isn't there something that's good about anger or expressing emotions in general? Maybe it's not good to hold on to these emotions, but anger can also teach us something of like what's not working. Like I'm angry about something like animal cruelty or children cruelty or something. And so it's like how can I make a difference?

Not hold on to it, but use it as a learning tool, right? Right, to propel you forward in a sense. Yeah, to do something then. Right, into action. Yeah. I tend to find that underneath the anger there's another emotion usually. What's that? It depends on the situation, but it could be pain.

It could be some, some, usually fear or pain is usually the anger to me is usually on top of that, if that makes sense. So I try to go to the deeper emotion. What's your biggest fear right now? I think because my brother passed away when I was young, I have some phobias around like wellness and health, not for myself, but now that I have kids, thank God they're great. But like every time something small happens, I feel fear inside of myself and I'm trying to overcome. That's probably the biggest thing I'm trying to work on in myself right now is to transcend fear. It's hard for me. Do you know any mothers that aren't afraid of the safety of their children? I do know some mothers that don't afraid of the safety of their children? I do know some mothers that don't really live in fear that often. Yes, I do.

Are they not loving mothers? No, they're actually the most loving. Really? I think they've just come to a place where they realize that fear is not going to protect, and it's not an energy that is going to help their kids feel safe. Because kids feel what you feel. Your dad expressed anger or fear, right? And it doesn't make you feel safe. My mom expressed fear and my dad anger.

And that didn't help you feel safe. No. Because if I'm sitting here and I feel fear, you're going to feel fear. Yeah, it's going to eject on me. And if you're a child, you're going to absorb it completely because kids absorb the vibration much more than what's said to them. The energy. The energy. The energy, which is why at WeGrow, I'm so focused on the culture and the vibration in the space and that the teachers are conscious and kind and healthy human beings because kids absorb the vibration, I think, more than what our words are saying. And when I was over there yesterday, I peeked in for like three minutes.

It was a complete opposite of what I went to school as, right? Which, you know, I'm dyslexic or, you know, whether you want to label it or not, but I grew up very... I wouldn't label it. Yeah, right. If you want to label it, right? I grew up, unfortunately, in the school system I was in,

they would rank our grade cards based on like all the kids in the class. So I was always in the bottom four based on how many students to where they would see the number on the grade card. Good for you. Right? Yeah, it was fun. Really helped me like with my confidence. And the testing and just how everything was structured, I was an athlete. That's how I got my learning and my teaching. It was like on the sports. Through your body. Through my body. After school at 3.30, when the bell rang, it was like, thank goodness, now I can go learn something. Because it was like, my coach is going to teach me something.

I'm going to learn something through making mistakes. I want to get to collaborate with my teammates and connect with them. Yeah, move around. That's where I thrived. Totally. I just waited all day until sports. And it was miserable because I just had to take these tests and I could never test well and I couldn't read and write at a second grade reading level in eighth grade. So I had to tutor my entire life until I graduated college, which took me seven years. And I always struggled because I always felt like I was just like this dumb kid, this like kid that was never going to be able to learn in that structure. And so when I see stuff that you're doing, it just really inspires me and gives me a lot of hope because I know there's a lot of kids that don't learn that well in that structure.

They learn in different structures. And I think what you're doing, just seeing it for a few moments, was it brought me to like this emotional state. I was like, wow, I wish I had this. Because I can only imagine where I'd be if I had that type of structure in my life that allowed me to express my superpowers as opposed to two hours a day of practice, you know, and having the whole day. So what got you inspired to launch a school that was different than everything else? And what is the structure of the school that we grow is right now? First of all, I want to commend you for manifesting your superpowers, albeit a challenging situation because you're obviously doing your life's work and it's incredible. So thank you. What got me to do this is basically all of the things you just said. Having grown up in New York and going to one of the most prestigious middle and high schools and on to an Ivy League and all of that.

Because you went to private schools your whole life. I actually was in public until seventh, which I liked. And I liked Horace Mann where I went to private as well, as well as Cornell. I liked – they were all great schools academically. Yes. well, as well as Cornell. They were all great schools academically, but I didn't feel that any of these institutions were, as part of their mission, trying to cultivate whole, compassionate human beings who were in touch with whatever their superpower might be, and teaching how to use that power to help the planet. That wasn't kind of part of what was happening there. It was more like, this is what's happening regardless of who you are and what your gift may or may not be. And we're going to judge you and assess you

on this very kind of simple scale, which you just laid out. I don't believe in the concept of some kids being gifted and talented. I think that's one of the most bogus things I've ever heard of in my entire life. Every human is gifted and talented. It's just if we're lazy and we're going to limit gifted and talented to one IQ, whatever, that's the issues on the adults, not the children, because the children are all perfect. So for me, first of all, we place equal emphasis and priority on your spirit and your mind and your body. And however you learn is just fine. My husband is dyslexic as well. I don't think he read till he was in fourth grade. A lot of the most brilliant people I know have what other people would tag as learning disabilities. I don't even like that term either. But like on the

physical front, for example, we have a track at WeGrow. Anytime a child needs to move, he gets up and he loops around the track because kids are not meant to sit still all day. This is just common sense if you've been a parent. And what happens in schools right now is we make the kids sit still all day. We feed them tons of like refined white sugar and stuff. They can't sit still. And then we drug them with Ritalin.

It's not normal. Why don't we feed them conscious whole grain, plant-based foods, let them go out in nature, touch the earth, let them move around when they need to move their bodies throughout their day. And let passion be the driver of their education. Whatever they're into, we're into. And once you align the curriculum with their passion, as Einstein said, passion is the greatest driver, love way more than a sense of duty. Once you build the curriculum around then, and then,

of course, we have our entire community of WeWork employees and members to mentor them. So whatever a kid's into, like if it was you, you would have been with some great athlete in a mentorship one-on-one from age seven. You could have started to explore that. Then it's not on us anymore to try to get them to do anything. They're doing it for us. And to be completely honest, we are learning more from them than we could ever teach them because children are already in this kind of perfected state. Wow. Yeah. Drop the mic. I like it. And what I heard so far, I just was giving you some insights

yesterday, is that once a week they go to a local farm? Is that what they do? They do. They spend one full day a week in nature farming and just running and being and meditating in nature. With farm animals too or is it just kind of like – There will be animals. There are not currently. But they plant seeds. They harvest their crops. Wow.

They bring them back to the city. They run a farm stand at WeWork and then they donate all of the proceeds to a nonprofit that they are actually personally involved in and invested in that they choose. So they, cause I saw them come upstairs yesterday and like. Did you see the farm stand? I saw the farm stand. Oh, nice. Like I didn't see them actually selling, but I heard someone tell me like, they're like little hustlers, like running around, like trying to sell you like carrots and stuff.

They're into it. They're super motivated. Just charming you and like. Yep. They don't need our help. I mean, the second the stand opens, even the first one, every, this is the second year They're into it. They're super motivated. Just charming you and like. Yep. They don't need our help. I mean, the second the stand opens, even the first one, every, this is the second year we're doing this, they are off to the races. And I think it's really empowering for them to understand this is not about turning them into, you know, entrepreneurs that are focused on making money at this age or anything like that. That is not the point.

But for them to understand that they can actually plant something, pull it out of the earth, sell it, and then help. Last year it was animals. Like it's a full circuit of what I call conscious entrepreneurship, creating for the benefit of. And they are learning everything from marketing to math to science. And then whatever it is that they don't understand, we call the WeWork employees in that department. Let's say it's branding. And they come down and they give a master class. So last year their t-shirts instead of do what you love said eat what you love. And they come up with this and it's just fun and it's completely student created. And

I can't imagine doing it any other way. So you wouldn't have it any other way. I think it's brilliant. And right now, what are the age groups of students at the school or, I guess, the grades? Sure. So this year, our founding year, we have ages three through fourth grade. And next year, we're going to have ages two through sixth grade. Gotcha. So it's almost all of elementary school, right? Almost.

Because it started first or kindergarten, I guess. Correct. And then we're going to go through high school and open around the planet. So you can actually move around and be mobile with your family if that's something that. What would high school look like in this curriculum? I could only begin to imagine. I haven't completely dug my brain into it yet, but I would imagine kids are going to be in full entrepreneurial endeavors. Oh, yeah, 100%.

I'm sure a lot of these children by the time they're in high school are already going to be creating what they're going to be doing for their life. And I bet you some of them are going to choose not to even go to college. And just start working. And if they do, they will. That's great. But yeah. What's the vision for this then? Because right now it's one school with two grades, I guess, right?

A couple of grades. Right now it has a bunch of grades. It's one location. We're going to scale to another location next year, which we're going to announce soon. Okay. And then the following year, we're planning to go international as well. So would this be like, you know, as we work as a global membership. Right.

Would WeGrow be a global membership of students where you could travel and go to different schools? And if you're on vacation, are you doing abroad for three months? Or if you want to go do community service for a month in a rainforest or anywhere. And even if we don't have a physical location, we are going to curate blended learning with online curriculum as well. blended learning with online curriculum as well. I really want to encourage families to move around and see the earth because to me, no matter how well we do the curriculum in school, there's no better teacher than the planet itself. Traveling and experiences. So to me, the idea that you can't, once your kids hit kindergarten, you can't travel unless it's like a designated holiday doesn't make any sense to me.

Was this seed planted for you before you had kids or after? No, totally. I was never planning to go into education. I was into acting and yoga and, you know. No, I had no, this came honestly out of left field, but it does make sense and I am using all of the different things that I've studied. I'm using my entire self in this initiative. Do you feel like everything you've done up to this point was to teach you how to do this? Yes. How does that feel? It feels really good because I know that the universe is not random and that no energy was wasted. I felt bad when I studied acting for years and then I blew it and couldn't manifest that career.

Why did you feel bad? Because I felt like a loser. Because you weren't like booking the big roles. Yeah, I wasn't like booking jobs. I wasn't, it wasn't happening, but it wasn't meant to happen because that wasn't my calling. And it wasn't also how I was going to help others. But I didn't know that because I wasn't taught as a child that my life's work has to be a way to help others. What were you taught as a child? I was taught as a child that I was really smart academically and that that was super impressive

and that being in business was a good path to go on and that I should go to an Ivy League school and do that. Make your parents proud. That whole thing. And also to be a mom was really important to my mother. Get married young and have children young. So I didn't do either of those things. I got married at 30. But you're a mother though. I am a mom, thank God. That's amazing. Being a wife and a mom are definitely the two most important things to me. What's the thing you're the most proud of that you've done?

Probably helping my husband and other people around me manifest their callings. And that's what I'm trying to do with the school as well, is really empower others to manifest their life's work. I love empowering other people. It does not make me feel small or less than. It actually makes me feel small or less than. It actually makes me feel very fulfilled. I think it's a specific superpower that women have because we can conceive life and bear life to empower others. And I think that goes beyond your own infant or children. I think we're meant to be in a state of empowerment always for others.

I think we're meant to be in a state of empowerment always for others. Where do you think you'd be had you booked a couple of big roles and, you know, in acting? Probably lost and miserable and in my ego. It's really hard to act and not be about the I because there's so much focus on how do I look? How do I feel? How am I walking? how am I talking. It's like a lot of I, it's not that much we. It's a lot of like seeking the awards and is this good enough and am I going to get booked again. And what do others think of you?

What are they saying about me? Yeah, or how will they perceive you? Am I in the right rooms and are they inviting me? That whole thing. I actually felt very empty in that whole world. How long were you? I lived in LA for four years, I think. Yeah.

But it's okay because I had an incredible acting teacher named Eric Morris who taught me to connect with my truth. And that is something I use in life all the time. He is like one of my gurus. Wow. And I also studied a lot of yoga and Buddhism and Kabbalah during that time in LA. So you never know. Wow. There you go. What was the greatest lesson that acting taught you that you use today? To be present. Because you can't perform well if you're not present. If you're not in. If you're thinking somewhere else,

right? Yeah. If you're not in, you're not on. You've got to drop in. Yeah, you've got to be present. You've got to drop in. I surf now, and it does the same. Yeah. Yeah. You surf the Atlantic? I have surfed the Atlantic this summer,

but not right now. My husband's a little crazier than me, but surfing is awesome, and yoga, of course. Are there any actors that you're aware of that are able to perform at such a high level and also not make it about them i bet there are and they're probably just better at it than me and that's fine i'm happy about that do you think it's possible do you know of any or do you like see people you're like man they're doing a great job of like serving

humanity but also they're a great actor well yeah, yeah, definitely. I mean, a lot of actors, I think, are also serving humanity. I don't know all of them like so intimately, you know what I'm saying? To make a complete... Yeah, of course. But I have a lot of close friends and relatives that are incredible actors and are also doing incredible things for the world. So I do think that's, of course, very possible. Yeah. What was the greatest lesson that your father taught you? To show up and work really, really hard. There was no being like a dilettante in my house. You had to rise up and deliver. So hard work. I don't mess around. Wow.

Yeah, no, I have that from my dad. He also was an entrepreneur. So I grew up hearing business all the time, and it's in my blood. So also was an entrepreneur. So I grew up hearing business all the time and it's in my blood. So I intuitively understand things in business that I could never learn in a classroom. And that's also what I'm trying to do with the WeGrow kids is expose them to experts so they can absorb it. Sometimes we're driving somewhere on a long car ride and my daughters will be like, daddy, get off the phone. We don't want to hear you doing business. And I'm actually like, actually, just listen. I know it sounds whatever, but just listen. See what you pick up. Yeah. And that's how we all pick up. The whole art of apprenticeship and mentorship is kind of

a lost one. And I think it's one of the greatest, most important things for humanity's evolution is to be able to apprentice under someone. So that happens with our parents naturally. And what about your mom? What was the greatest lesson she taught you? Nature. All about nature and the connection to nature. I think for her, nature is God and trees are almost people to her.

And I have a profound love of nature because of that. We grew up on the top of a little mountain and almost like a tree house surrounded by trees. And she loves the earth and I love the earth. And that's why it's such a big part of what we're doing here. It sounds like your parents have really shaped you into creating We Grow into like the feminine, the masculine, or what they both taught you. You're kind of like integrating it both. Yeah. Nature one day a week.

Right. It's like a requirement I'm hearing. Right. Yeah. No, for always, nature is going to be a big part. And maybe there's daily activities they do outside. They do. Yeah.

So there's that that your mom has brought to you and like instilled in you. And then your dad is like the apprenticeship, the business, the pursue the thing that you love type of thing, the work very hard. So these kids aren't just running around the track and like playing in nature all day and just like dilly-dallying all day. They're actually working very hard as well, right? We are all about it. We work and we grow tenacity and grit and pushing ourselves to our limits.

In school too. A hundred percent. There's a lot of academic rigor and- Can you give me an example of- Well, so here's an example of how we do it differently, but in a really rigorous way. The kids are responsible for creating their own work schedule. So we don't say today, now we're going to do math and now we're going to teach you math and now we're going to teach you this. Instead we say, today you're going to need to get through X, Y, and Z.

Here's your work schedule. You create when you want to do it, and you go through the Montessori materials, basically teach yourself. So they own their education. The whole education system as it currently exists was created so people would go to assembly lines during the Industrial Revolution and take orders well. There's not a lot of orders being given at WeGrow. The kids are responsible for their own education. And because we have mixed ages and tons of materials in every room, if a kindergarten child is ready, like there is one to do second grade math, she's doing second grade math. It doesn't matter what grade you're in.

All I said is just make sure that they're being pushed as far as they want and can go. What happens if they're like, eh, I don't really want to do this work right now? They don't, that doesn't happen because they're passionate. Really? And if they don't want to do something right now, then that would be okay. They would just have to get to it later. They could focus on something else. In the day. Yeah. You can't leave until you finish the certain lesson plan. No, but that also bleeds into how we handle homework. Because they have their own work schedule, if there's something they need to finish up that they didn't do during the day,

they can take their own responsibility and bring it home and then bring it back. There are many entrepreneurs in that sense. I mean, in today's world, no one is going to tell you and give you some map of exactly how you're meant to live or create. I mean, and I don't think you would want that. That wouldn't be fun and interesting because it wouldn't be your own version. Right, right.

But yes, definitely the masculine and feminine and the yin and the yang are important to me. And I think that we all have masculine and feminine in each one of us. And I think men who are in touch with their feminine side, I think it's beautiful. I think vulnerability is strength in men. And I think women who are in touch with their masculine side, also beautiful. So I think it's about being in balance. Yeah. Why do you think WeWork has taken off the way it has? Again, I think it's the number 210,000 members. I read it online, but I'm not sure if it's-. I'm not so good with the numbers. Okay, gotcha.

But if you read it. That's what I read. But it could be like six months outdated. Yeah, who knows? I mean, I heard you had 3,000 employees a year ago. Now it's almost 8,000. It's like growing so fast. Yeah.

One, how do you manage that growth coming from a struggling actor with a struggling entrepreneur husband mentality, how do you guys say, wow, this thing is taking off? We've never had something take off like this. How do you emotionally handle that and deal with all 7,000 people and just managing people and all that energy? That's the first question. I'll let you answer that first. Okay. So to answer that, the main thing is to stay humble all the time. The second you go into ego, it's game over. You disconnect from your blessings. You disconnect from your joy. You disconnect from your people. So do not ever go into ego and do not ever think that you're great because great things are happening. So we're always humble and profoundly grateful. I like that.

That's the first thing. And the other thing is that we're constantly growing. If the world is growing and moving fast and you're not growing it, you're not going to be synced up. So you have to be changing in yourself as fast as your reality is changing while staying humble. Go figure. I like this. I like this. So it's not saying like, look what I've created. Well, we haven't created it, obviously. It's being created partly through us. Yeah, you're channeling it. We're doing our part, but the members are creating this, and the students and families are creating We Grow.

And there is a movement that goes way beyond us of co-creators. Yeah. It's not, yeah. Why is WeWork co-working taking off more than every other co-creators. Yeah. It's not, yeah. Why is WeWork co-working taking off more than every other co-working out there? What makes it unique and different? Well, the intention and energy

that's really fueling it. I don't actually, I can't speak to other co-working spaces. I'm sure there are great ones with great intentions as well, I would imagine. But like I said earlier, the seed and the DNA of this endeavor is so authentically rooted in sharing and togetherness. Yeah. They know that we're authentically doing this to help the planet, and they want to be part of the solution, not the problem.

We all have a choice. Do we want to be part of the solution or the problem? You can't be neutral. It doesn't exist. So that's one thing. And why else is it? I think because the people involved are just awesome. I mean, my husband also just knows how to make things happen like I was saying before.

Why do you think he knows how to manifest? Do you think it's because he wasn't able to learn with a certain school structure? The dyslexia served him tremendously. I think a lot of dyslexic people manifest. They do. I feel like that's – I just – Well, because he had to figure out how to get people to help him from a very young age. That's what I've – my whole life is just like –

He couldn't even make it through otherwise, and no one even knew he was dyslexic because he was like doing, you know, moving around so well. Yeah. That's interesting. I'm sure I'd have, you know, moving around so well. Yeah. That's interesting. I'm sure I'd have like great conversations with him too. Yeah. My other question was what's the vision? You know, you've been doing this for seven, eight years now and you just started WeGrow.

It's just like the pilots and everything is happening now. But in seven, eight years, where do you see WeWork and WeGrow manifesting? How big is it? How impactful is it? How far is the reach? I mean, our vision and dream and goal would be it would be around the entire planet. Of course, that's the intention. We want to create a whole WeWorld where everybody is unified and happy and together. Wow. That's the intention, but we need the help of the whole world to make that happen. I keep saying we're all on the same side.

Either we're going to figure this out together and help each other and we're going to all save the world or the world won't exist and then none of us will be, you know what I'm saying? I feel like it's kind of at a critical point right now, but we are all on the same side.

How many students do you want to have a part of WeGrow in the next seven, eight years? I don't, like I said, I don't think in numbers. You're not thinking in numbers, gotcha. But, I mean, many. And we want to scale to students. 50 to 100, yeah, yeah. Students all around the world that have little to no money and, you know.

Wow. Would every WeWork, essentially, would you like there to be a school attached to every WeWork? Every city, I would say, maybe. I have to think about it. That has a WeWork potentially could have a WeGrow. But also, if we create the online curriculum correctly as well, then hopefully many other kids can access it that maybe don't live near a physical location. What's a question you wish people would ask you that they never ask? Oh, gosh.

I don't know. What do I wish people would ask me? What I like about them? I don't know. Something about them, I guess. Something about you. Not about me, no. Got it.

Interesting. Yeah. What's the thing that you're most proud of that most people don't know? That's interesting as well. I'm really flexible. Emotionally, spiritually, physically. Physically, yeah. I mean, I've been a yogi

and I haven't had any meat since I'm 12. Since 12, wow. Yeah. That's interesting. But I think being flexible and having a flexible spine, I'm sure you know this as an athlete. But a yogi in India once told me if your spine stays nimble, you won't age.

It's all in the spine. Is that why you look 21? I don't know if I look 21, but I'm trying to work on my spine, yes. Useful, yeah. Yeah. Flexible spine. I mean, that's a random thing. I don't know if it's something I'm most proud of, but it's a random thing.

Most people don't know. Yeah, okay. The not eating meat is a big one for me as well. Since 12, wow. Yeah. I have no judgments if people eat meat. I understand they eat meat. I get it. But I do think for the environment and for health and for animals, eventually we can move in the direction of not eating meat. That would be a good thing. Yeah. I live in LA, so I spend a lot of time with vegan friends and go to a lot of vegan restaurants. Tasty, right? It's great. Yeah.

I love it. Yeah. It's something I battle with constantly because I understand the principle. Yeah. But it's like when I've been conditioned my whole life for something and it's like, you know, as someone who's like lifting and working out a lot, it's just like it's figuring out that process. But I constantly am conscious of how I'm eating meat. And I try to go out with my vegan friends often.

That's awesome. To spend time at vegan restaurants. Right. It's like if I can do multiple meals in a row without meat, that's what I try to focus on. That's perfect. Reductionist. Don't judge me, though. I have no judgment.

But there are a lot of really strong athletes that are plant-based, right? There are more and more. Very much so. It does exist, right? It's happening in the MMA and football and basketball. There's more and more plant-based athletes coming out that are super strong and super fast. And it's just changing the— Absolutely, it's doable. It's just changing the— Doable. Absolutely, it's doable.

It's just changing the perception and changing the awareness around it. I think there's one easy way to do that, which is just everyone can watch a film on how the meat's actually getting to their— I've seen it. No, I've seen it. I don't know if you've seen Earthlings. No. Earthlings.

Anyway, yeah. You know the movie that got me actually to like really think differently is—it wasn't even a documentary. It was like a movie movie Brad Pitt produced it, I think that was called Okja. Oh my gosh. Okja. Literally,

I watched this movie and I was like, it created such an emotional connection to animals, which I was just like, I can't eat meat. Right. I wasn't strong enough to not do it, but I get it. But it was like, wow, it really hit me.

It wasn't even about like the meat processing and things like that. Right, the animals. Yeah, the heart of animals. When you eat something, you're also absorbing the energy of that thing. I know. So if the animal is sad, then you're kind of taking in that. I know. But anyway.

But isn't the planet sad? And so eating plants and vegetables that is just like sad soil, sad like oxygen, like It's a big problem. We need to make the earth healthy again so that we can have live produce. That's like a really. Yeah. I'm just trying to justify my actions. No, it's all baby steps.

Exactly. Yeah. This is a question I ask at the end. It's called the three truths. I ask everyone this. Okay. This is a question I ask at the end. It's called the three truths. I ask everyone this. Okay. Three truths. Now imagine, hypothetically, that you've lived as long as you want to live.

That might be forever. There you go. And imagine that at some point your physical body has to go. Okay. And it's your last day. Let's just imagine, hypothetically. I imagine that regularly. Okay. You've accomplished and created and become and done and lived everything you want to do.

Your family is happy and they've lived the lives that they want. You've seen it all. You've created all the business or non-business or structure or whatever it is, you've done it. You've empowered the world. For whatever reason, everything you've said and shared and written has got to come with you when you pass. And so no one has access to your materials anymore personally, your audio or video or written words. But you get to write down three truths that you get to leave behind. These three lessons, truths, ideals that you would share with the world. That this is what they would have to be reminded by you of your lessons.

What would you say are your three truths? Wow. I would say the first is that only love is real. The second is that we are all one. And the third would be to treat people, animals, and the planet the way they want to be treated. Those are powerful. I like those. Let's do it. What is something that we can support as a community, the listeners right now or people watching this?

How can we support your mission, WeWork, or WeGrow? What can we take action on? That's a great question. I would say the best thing we could do is find ways maybe in our local communities or elsewhere to help either or all of the above between animals, kids, and the environment. They're all things that can't help themselves or protect themselves. That's why I'm so passionate about those three subjects. So if you can help animals or the environment or children, that's a huge win. And yeah, basically that would be a good starting point.

Okay, awesome. And if you're an entrepreneur, you can check out WeWork. Totally. You can check out WeWork.com and see if there's a location near you. It's got the zip code. You can just type it in. You can also just join as a We member and plug into the global network of creators without actually being in a physical location. What's We member mean?

What is that? It means that you're a member in the community without actually having to physically sit in one of the buildings. What does that give you? That gives you access to all the creators globally that you can co-create, collaborate with. Yeah. So is it like an online portal or platform? Yeah. How does this work?

It is, but I would need to get you on with Shiva, our head of digital, to tell you exactly where it's going. Got it. Yeah. Cool. Okay. So just go to WeWork.com for information about WeWork. Yes. We members.

We grow. Everything else. Totally. Because you guys do a lot of cool events and you have speaker series and a lot of different things, which is really cool. We have summer camp every year. Summer camp. That's cool.

It's fun. We do do a lot of events and we're going to be moving in a direction of all the events being really focused on consciousness. I like that. Yeah. That's cool. Getting high on consciousness. I like it. Instead of anything else.

Something else, yeah. the curriculum, the community, the creation behind everything that the members are part of, because you're attracting such unique individuals that stand for a higher way of being, which I think is really cool. So I want to acknowledge you, Rebecca, for showing up as a present woman and mother to all of us. I really feel like you're a mom to all the WeWork members, as well as your kids, the students that we grow. And it's really nice to know that someone with your level of integrity and truth and love is supporting all of us. So I really acknowledge you for the work you've done your entire life to be here right now and guiding this mission. It's really powerful.

So thank you. Thank you so much. I feel the same way about you. Thank you. I appreciate it. And my final question, well, first off, where can we connect with you personally? Or is there a way to follow you on social media? Are you even on social media?

Intentionally, not that much. But WeGrow is on Instagram. At WeGrow? Just at WeGrow. Okay. So that's kind of how I communicate. So follow WeGrow. And we have WeWork as well.

At WeWork. Just WeWork, simple. Okay, but you're not personally on Instagram or Twitter or anything? I am. I'm a citizen of We, but it's private. I'm not really that cool. I only have like 200 followers or something. Citizen of We, is that what it is? Yeah, but it's private. I'm not really that cool. I only have like 200 followers or something. Citizen of We, is that what it is?

Yeah, but it's not. But no one can follow you anyways because you're private. I'm not that good at that stuff. I don't know. I also, if I have free time, want to really be present with my babies. You've got five kids, yeah. Versus like diving into my phone. Five kids or four kids?

Five. Five kids, yeah. I mean, it's like you don't have much extra free time. No free time. No free time. No, unless I schedule it. Unless you schedule it. Sched. Five kids. Yeah. I mean, it's like. Yeah. You don't have much extra free time. No free time. No free time. No. Unless I schedule it. Unless you schedule it.

Schedule Instagram time. And it's like in the block, free time. Yeah. Recess. Okay. So we'll follow at WeGrow, at WeWork, WeWork.com. WeGrow.com. WeGrow.com as well.

Yeah. We'll be supporters and be following as everything that you're up to. My final question for you, or is there anything else you'd like to say before I ask the final question? Just that I think you're awesome. Thank you. And I love to be with creators who are really doing it right. I appreciate that.

So thank you so much. Yeah, my pleasure. And thank you for having me. This is my first podcast I've ever done, so. I'm excited. Yes. Excited. My final question then is what is your definition

of greatness? My definition of greatness is being in a state of joy and happiness and fulfillment, manifesting your calling in the betterment of the world and others, and ultimately being able to spread that energy to a point where it hits a tipping point where the rest of the world would be existing in that same we consciousness. I love it. Rebecca, thank you so much for coming on. Thank you. Appreciate you. Nice meeting you. Thanks. There you have it, my friends. I love this interview. I enjoyed connecting with Rebecca and hearing more about her story, her background, how she has been a part of this massive business and how she is using all of her skills to

now put all into WeGrow to support the growth of furthering education for kids. And what she's going to be doing for adults in the future is just blowing my mind. I'm so excited about this. Make sure to check out wegrow.com. Make sure to check out wework.com and see all the information that they have on everything there.

It's incredible what they're doing and I really love their vision and mission. If you enjoyed this, share it with a friend, lewishouse.com slash 716. Again, tag me on Instagram at Lewis Howes. Let me know what you enjoyed most about this and send it to a few friends who you think would enjoy this interview as well. My friends, we are here on a mission to make an impact in the world. We're here to improve our lives and to improve the lives of those that we

care about around us and to improve humanity. That's what this is about. John F. Kennedy said, conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth. What are you doing to innovate in your life to make sure that you don't stay stagnant in your life? Don't just stick to the norm. If it's not working, innovate. And Benjamin Franklin said, without continual growth and progress, such as words, improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning. Make meaning with your life today.

And as always, you know what time it is. It's time to go out there and do something great. Great. Bye.